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The Mills and Millers at Belph, Whitwell and Creswell
Examination of the Portland Estate records and other documents available on the
internet indicates clearly that there were two mills associated with Whitwell,
one a windmill and the other powered by water. At least in later years, both
also seem to have had the option of steam power. The earliest reference to a
Miller at Whitwell so far located is to Joseph Bright (buried St Lawrence’s
1755) who established a charity in 1745.1
It is not clear with which mill he was associated, but he lived at the Pump
House in The Square at Whitwell. According to White’s Directory (1857) this
charity was lost by the insolvency of the person with whom it was invested.2
In 1858–9 the 5th Duke of Portland bought from George Legat ‘a close of land
formerly part of Middlegate Field in Whitwell’ described as ‘lying on the north
side of modern Mill Lane’ and on which a windmill stood,3
as illustrated on the Whitwell Local History Group website.4
It has not been possible, unequivocally, to identify any Miller associated with
this mill, but the following, by virtue of living in close proximity to the
windmill, are possibly associated with it.
In the period 1841 to 1871 a John Wilson of North Wheatley is shown as a Miller
resident at Malters (Malthouse?) Row, Ashurst Cottages or Larpit Lane, Whitwell.
He was assisted in 1851 by his nephew, William, and by his son, John, in 1861.
In 1881 a William Jallands (b1826 Kirton) of Hills Lane, Whitwell, is recorded
as Miller with Joseph Pond as a Miller’s Assistant. In 1891 William Jallands is
living at Mill Lane Cottage and listed as ‘Miller, steam and wind’ in Kelly’s
1891 Directory.5
Whitwell windmill is shown as operational on maps dated 1883 and 1899 but as
disused on maps dated 1923 and 1947.6
By 1912 the nearest Millers listed in Kelly’s Directory are at Bolsover, Clowne
and Creswell. An 1813 publication, however, refers to a windmill at Belph.7
There were two mills at Creswell / Elmton Common End,8
latterly separated by the Creswell–Staveley railway line. The Lower Mill was
water-driven, but the Upper or Top Mill was probably originally wind-driven as a
ruined windmill is shown on maps at the end of the 19th century. Census and
Pigot’s Directory records show that Robert and John Butcher were at the Upper
Mill in 1831 and 1835, but only Robert appears in the 1841 census and in
Bagshaw’s 1846 Directory.9
William Eyre (b1810 Cottam) appears as Farmer and Miller in 1851 and 1861. In
1871 he is shown only as Farmer, but Joseph Maples (b1852 Sutton-on-Trent) in
his household is shown as Miller, and son Robert Eyre (b1845 Elmton) has taken
over at the Upper Mill where he remained until 1901. Robert latterly took on
responsibility from William Jallands also for the windmill at Whitwell. Robert’s
younger brother William (b1846 Elmton) is also shown as Miller there in 1881,
and as a retired Miller living East Retford in 1891 and 1901.
A Richard Thorpe (b1795 Elmton) also appears as a Miller at Creswell in 1841
with an apprentice, William Mellish (b1823 Stoney Houghton). In 1851, Richard is
recorded as Master Miller, assisted by his nephew William Mellish, a Journeyman
Miller. William appears to have replaced his uncle in 1861. In view of the
overlapping dates they were probably at the Lower Mill.
Another mill was located at Mill Ash, Belph, powered by the Millwood Stream
flowing north-east at that point but meandering to enter the Great Lake in
Welbeck Park. The Mill Pond is clearly shown on maps dated 1875 and 1883, with
the Mansfield–Worksop railway line (authorised in 1865, building commenced 1870
and operational in 1875) to the west.10
In 1890 the Duke of Portland required the Shireoaks Colliery Company to ‘build a
wall to be erected from the private loading berth at Whitwell Station to near
Belph Mill Dam’.11
Maps dated 1899, 1901 and 1923 show the Mill Pond and sluice adjacent to
Whitwell Colliery, the branch line from Whitwell station to the colliery, the
Cricket Ground, Railway Cottages, with Belph Mill and Mill Ash a short distance
east.12,13
A 1947 map shows the Mill Pond and a sluice, Station Cottages and Belph Mill
Cottages, but does not designate Belph Mill per se.14
There is a reference to Belph Mill in 1956 as follows, ‘Agreement with Charles
Caple for Belph Mill, Whitwell, Derbys’.15
According to Wikipedia, the stream flowed from a natural fault, and the ruins of
two mills can apparently still be seen.16
Possibly one of these is the windmill referred to in the 1813 publication,
above. My grandmother, Harriet Hind, recalled that in addition to milling
cereals, Belph Mill also possessed a ropewalk for processing flax, but whether
this is the ‘round flax mill’ associated with the Rotherham family ca 1755 is
unclear.17 Benjamin and
Mary Rotherham (née Heathcote) are recorded as holding the Belk (Birks?) Closes
at about that date,18 and a
Samuel Rotherham, buried St Lawrence’s in 1845, was described as of Belph Moor.
The earliest reference so far located to what seems to be the property at Mill
Ash is dated 1701 and states as follows ‘one rood of land within the Manor of
Whitwell, abutting north on the Milne Lane and south on the ditch’ transferred
by feoffment from ‘Godfrey Walkinson of Handsworth Woodhouse in Derbyshire,
yeoman, to Richard Biney of Whitwell in Derbyshire, yeoman’.19
John Porter (1733–1806) son of Charles Porter of Whitwell was in 1745 indentured
with Mathew Porter, Stonemason, for seven years.20
In 1760 John received by feoffment from Samuel and Alice Cutt ‘a close of land
on Mill Lane at Belph in Whitwell’.21
In 1764 John married Ann Flower (1745–1819) at Whitwell. Their eldest son and
heir, George, was baptised at Whitwell on February 5th 1764. Two of the
occupants of John’s property at Mill Ash were Samuel Beard in 176122
and Robert Vallance in 1764.23
John died 1807 and bequeathed his property to his wife Ann and daughter
Charlotte, but specified that if Charlotte married some of the property would
pass to his sons George and Charles, and his married daughter Ann Dodds.24
This will was later judged to be ambiguous and eventually in 1823 the property
at Mill Ash was divided between Charlotte Porter, spinster, George Porter,
Miller, Charles Porter of Whitwell, gent., and Robert Dodds of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and his wife Ann née Porter, the Porters mentioned all being
children of John Porter, Mason of Whitwell, and his wife Ann.25
Charlotte died in 1831 while resident in London and bequeathed her share of the
property to ‘Maria, eldest daughter of her eldest brother George Porter, for her
life; after her death bequeaths the same to Maria's brothers John and George and
sister Charlotte’.26
George Porter (1764–1846) married Ann (1771–1844, but other details not known)
and he was described in 1820 and 1823 as Miller, in 1824 as Farmer of Belph
Grange, and in 1840 and 1841 as a Farmer of Mill Ash. He died in 1846 and is
buried at St Lawrence’s.
The Porter property at Mill Ash included ‘a close of land in the parish of
Whitwell in Derbyshire measuring 1r. 20p. bounded on the north by [the rivulet
leading from] Belph Mill and on the south by Mill Lane, together with a messuage
or dwellinghouse and seven cottages erected on part of the close’.27
It is further described as including ‘A dwelling house at Mill Ash in the parish
of Whitwell in Derbyshire, 'private stone built and tiled'; seven cottages
adjoining the house, also 'private stone built and tiled'; a coach house about
20 yards away from the cottages; and two pig sties’.28
In 1840, this property was conveyed to the 4th Duke of Portland by the mortgage
holders and joint owners (who included George Porter Farmer of Mill Ash, his
sons John Porter (born 1807, Coach Builder of East Retford) and George Porter (b
1809, Hop Merchant of Leeds) and his son-in-law John Megson (Brewer of
Wakefield) and his wife Charlotte née Porter.29
A book30 published in 1845 refers to ‘A Singular Tree’ as follows,’ There is a
tree now flourishing in a meadow at Belph-mill, near Whitwell, in the occupation
of G. Porter, of the Mill Ash, which exhibits the appearance of two trees—one
above the other— on one bole or stem. The parent tree—the willow—had been from
time to time headed or topped, and the seed of the ash by some means had been
deposited on the crown of it, and had taken root, and, in the course of years,
made its way down the heart of the willow into the earth. The tree or trees
stands at a short distance from the Duke of Portland’s coach-road, and about two
miles from the celebrated Greendale Oak, in Welbeck-park, and is well worth the
notice of the curious passing that way—Derby Reporter.’
My particular interest in these mills stems from the fact that my great great
grandfather, John Hind, was associated with the mill at Belph. John Hind is
recorded in the various censuses as born about 1799 at Whitwell, but no baptism
record has been located there or in the surrounding parishes, and his parents
are not known. John Hind was resident Elmton when he married Elizabeth Turner at
Staveley on August 5th 1823.
In 1824, when his eldest son William was baptised at St Lawrence’s, John was
described as a Miller resident Whitwell, but his exact place of residence is not
known, nor is it clear with which mill he was then associated, but possibly one
of the mills at Elmton because he was not recorded as a property owner or tenant
in the 1823 Tithe Schedule for Whitwell. Baptism records indicate that by 1826
John and family had moved to Osberton where he was Miller, resident at the Mill
until ca 1834. John Hind then moved to the Chequer House at Scofton, adjacent to
Ranby, until ca 1838 but returned to Osberton until at least August 1844 when my
great grandfather George was baptised at Worksop Priory. It is possible that
John Hind initially worked with John Foster (b1784 Osberton) who was Miller
there from at least 1813 and who in 1832 was shown as Corn Miller living Diamond
Nook, Osberton.31 John
Foster was Miller residing at Ranby Kilns in 1841 and had retired there by 1851
as his son William took over. Osberton Mill was a large operation in 1851 with a
Miller (William Wilkinson b1813 Osberton), Foreman Miller (Stephen Keene b1822
Melksham, Wiltshire), Night Miller (Joseph Taylor b1809 Ranby) and Apprentice
Miller (Henry Girsham b1834 Ireland).
By April 1851 John Hind and family had returned to Whitwell and he is recorded
as Master Miller at Mill Ash, Belph, indicating that he must have trained at
least one apprentice while at Osberton. It seems likely that he took over on or
shortly after the death of George Porter in February 1846, but no definite
record has been found. John Hind was named as Miller there in White’s 1857
Directory, and as Master Miller and Farmer there in 1861. He died in 1869 and
his Administration described him as Farmer and Miller of Belph and named his
wife Elizabeth as executrix.
White’s Directory of 1857 named John’s eldest son William also as Corn Miller at
Belph,32 and the 1861
census also lists John’s sons Rheuben (b1841) and George (b1844) as Millers.
William was listed as Miller in the 1876 Post Office Directory and in 1880
William was described as Miller at Mill Ash when the Retford and Gainsborough
Times (July 9th) reported a drowning in the reservoir attached to the mill at
Belph Moor.33 The 1881 and
1891 censuses and the 1891 Kelly’s Directory34
all recorded William as ‘Miller steam and wind’ at Belph while in 1891 William’s
son Charles, resident at Chapel Yard, was also recorded as a Corn Miller.
Charles died in 1894, and when his father, William, died in 1895 he was buried
at St Lawrence’s in the same grave. At this date both Bulmer’s and Kelly’s
Directory list William’s elder son Albert as Farmer and Miller at Belph. Albert
was still recorded as a Farmer at Belph in 1899 but by 1901 was recorded as a
Labourer living Hodthorpe with his wife Sarah, daughter Jessie and cousin Lucy
Hind. He was buried at St Lawrence’s in 1905 and his widow was subsequently a
shopkeeper at Hodthorpe in 1911 and 1912.
John Hind’s second son, Thomas (born Osberton and baptised Worksop Priory March
19th 1826) started life at Osberton as an Agricultural Labourer but in 1851 was
recorded as a Journeyman Miller living at Thrumpston Lane,35
Ordsall with George Townrow. Later that year (October 2nd) at St Lawrence’s
Thomas married Mary Drabble, daughter of William Drabble, Sawyer of Belph.
Sadly, Mary died shortly after the birth of their son James in 1853 and Thomas
moved away. He married secondly Ann Turner and in 1861 was recorded as a
Journeyman Miller living High Street, Litchurch. In 1871 he was living with his
widowed mother at Belph Moor, but returned to Belper and then Ripley where he
died a widower in 1902.
References
1 Whitwell Local History Group http://www.wlhg.co.uk/book/part17.htm
2 http://www.n.f.wilson.btinternet.co.uk/780-790.htm
3 Pl E12/6/26/9/1-34 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
4 Whitwell Local History Group http://www.wlhg.co.uk/images/Book/wpe62.jpg
5 http://www.andrewspages.dial.pipex.com/dby/kelly/whitwell.htm
6 http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx
7 General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire: With Observations
on the Means of Their Improvement
By Great Britain Board of Agriculture, John Farey, Board of Agriculture http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cBMAAAAAQAAJ&client=firefox-a
8 Whitwell Local History Group http://www.wlhg.co.uk/images/Maps/19SE%201899.jpg
9 History, Gazetteer and Directory of Derbyshire, with the Town of
Burton-upon-Trent by Samuel Bagshaw http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GvoGAAAAQAAJ
10 http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx
11 Pl E12/9/6/2/1 http://nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_minerals.html
12 http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx
13 A.E. Overton and Bob Essery ‘Whitwell´ in Midland Record, 22, pp 14–33. ISBN
1–905184–13–1
14 http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx
15 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=157-ddp7&cid=2-626&kw=belph#2-626
16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belph
17 http://www.wlhg.freeuk.com/book/part17.htm
18 Pl E12/6/26/4/3 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
19 Pl E12/6/26/7/1 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
20 Pl E12/6/26/7/3 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
21 Pl E12/6/26/7/4 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
22 Pl E12/6/26/7/5 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
23 Pl E12/6/26/7/6 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
24 Pl E12/6/26/7/8 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
25 Pl E12/6/26/7/12/1-2 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
26 Pl E12/6/26/7/14 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
27 Pl E12/6/26/7/14 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
28 Pl E12/6/26/7/18/1-5 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
29 Pl E12/6/26/7/22/1-3 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/collections/online-mss-catalogues/cats/port_londonple_nottsales10.html
30 ‘The Friend’’: A Religious and Literary Journal, Published by The Friend.
1845 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=30ErAAAAYAAJ
31 ‘History, gazetteer, and directory of Nottinghamshire, and the town and
county of the town of Nottingham’, By William White. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Q3cHAAAAQAAJ
32 http://www.n.f.wilson.btinternet.co.uk/
33 Whitwell Local History Group http://www.wlhg.co.uk/book/part18.htm
34 http://www.andrewspages.dial.pipex.com/dby/kelly/whitwell.htm
35 Ordsall Mill http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?action=printdetails&keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NCCN002353
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